Data transmission across independent streams

ABSTRACT

Various systems and methods are provided for transmission of related data components across independent streams. In one embodiment, among others, a transmitting device may separate transmission data into related data components and transmit each related data component in an associated transport stream. Each related data component includes a synchronization tag associated with synchronization of the related data component within the transmission data. In another embodiment, a receiving device may receive related data components transmitted in separate transport streams and decode the related data components based at least in part upon a synchronization tag included in each related data component. In another embodiment, among others, a method for includes receiving data components transmitted on a plurality of transport streams, separating related data components from unrelated data components in the transport streams based at least in part upon a synchronization tag of each related data component; and decoding the related data components.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/566,254, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,001,728, entitled “DATA TRANSMISSIONACROSS INDEPENDENT STREAMS,” filed Aug. 3, 2012, which claims thebenefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/515,543,entitled “DATA TRANSMISSION ACROSS INDEPENDENT STREAMS,” filed Aug. 5,2011, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND

Transmission of program data is typically carried out over a singlecommon layer. For example, audio and video content for the program iscarried over the same transport stream. The program data is synchronizedwithin the same transport stream. In many cases, data for multipleprograms is multiplexed for transport in a single stream. The modulationof the transport stream is often optimized for the programs beingtransmitted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are graphical representations of examples of systems fortransmission of related data components across independent streams inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a graphical representation of an example of a transmittingdevice of FIGS. 1 and 2 in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a graphical representation of an example of a receiving deviceof FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of an example of a receiving deviceof FIG. 2 in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts illustrating examples of transmission ofrelated data components across independent streams in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are various embodiments of methods related totransmission of related data components across independent streams.Reference will now be made in detail to the description of theembodiments as illustrated in the drawings, wherein like referencenumbers indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Transmission is typically performed over a single bitstream that carriesall of the data associated with a channel or a source. For example, sixhigh definition (HD) channels may be carried over the same layer using aquadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) that has been optimized for theexisting data. However, the data may be separated into components thatmay be transmitted over different bitstreams and recombined afterreceipt. For example, related data such as audio, video, and/or othercontent (e.g., channel guides, closed captioning, encryptioninformation, etc.) may be separated and transmitted on independenttransport streams. In some cases, additional information may be includedto enhance some or all of the existing channels. Enhanced information orservices may be transmitted over an independent stream without modifyingthe modulation (e.g., QAM) of the existing transport stream. This may beapplied to layered coding techniques such as, e.g., scalable videocoding (SVC) where different temporal, spatial, and/or qualityresolutions may be transported in separate layers. The separate datacomponents may then be recombined for processing at the receiving end.

Referring to FIG. 1, shown is an example of a system for transmission ofrelated data components across independent streams. In the example ofFIG. 1, a transmitting device 103 (e.g., a transmitter or transceiver)sends one or more streams 106 of data to a receiving device 109 (e.g., areceiver or transceiver). The transmitting device 103 may comprisesuitable circuitry that may include, e.g., processor(s), applicationspecific hardware (ASIC), interfaces and/or other components as well ascode executed by hardware included in the circuitry (e.g., a processor)that may be configured to receive, process, and distribute data to thereceiving device 109 via a bitstream such as the transport stream 106.The transmitting device 103, which may be included in a headend system,may be configured to provide various services such as, e.g.,distribution, multicast, and/or quality of service for reliable andtimely transmission of the data to the receiving device 109. Thetransmitting device 103 may utilize, for example, a cable TV network, asatellite broadcasting network, the Internet protocol (IP) data networksuch as the Internet, and/or a wireless communication network fordelivery of the data to the receiving device 109.

Data from multiple channels 112 may be combined and modulated 115 fortransmission through a common transport stream (e.g., QAM 1) 106. Inthis way, data components related to a channel and data components thatare unrelated to the chancel (e.g., data components related to anotherchannel) may be sent via the same transport stream 106. In some cases,information from a channel 112 may be separated for transmission over Ndifferent transport streams 106. For instance, in multi-tiered videocoding such as SVC, the data may be separated into a base layercomponent 118 and an enhancement layer component 121. The base layercomponent 118 may be used to produce, e.g., standard or HD video usinglegacy decoders. The enhanced layer component 121 can include additionalinformation that, when combined with information in the base layercomponent 118, may be used by more advanced (or enhanced) decoders toproduce enhanced video for display. For example, the base layercomponent 118 may include channel information to support decoding of a1080p24 HD video. In some embodiments, the enhancement layer component121 may include additional channel information to support decoding theHD video at a higher resolution such as, e.g., 2K×4K. In otherembodiments, the enhancement layer component 121 may include additionalchannel information to support decoding the HD video at a different rateor format such as, e.g., 1080p60 or 1080p120. In either case, there maybe multiple enhancement layers to support different display rates orresolutions. For instance, the base layer component 118 may supportdecoding at 1080p24, a first enhancement layer component may allowdecoding at 1080p60 or 1080i60, and a second enhancement layer component(not shown) may allow decoding at 1080p120 or 1080i120. These first andsecond enhancement layer components may be transmitted in the same ordifferent transport streams 106.

The enhancement layer components 121 may also include content other thanaudio and/or video information. For instance, an enhancement layercomponent 121 may include guide information that may be associated withthat specific channel or may be associated with multiple channels. Ifthe guide information is associated with multiple channels, then asingle enhancement layer component 121 including the guide informationmay be associated with each of the base layer components 118 for thechannels. In other implementations, the enhancement layer components 118may include mosaic information associated with the base layer 118. Forinstance, the mosaic information may include a miniature video (e.g., anetwork icon, program advertisement, or information streamer) that maybe decoded at the same time as the video content in the base layercomponent 118 and rendered over the base layer video. Mosaic informationmay also include multiple small video components that may be decoded atthe same time and recombined for display. In other implementations,enhancement layer components may include information for multiple smallvideos that may be transported across multiple streams. The base layerand enhancement layer components may be decoded at the same time toprovide the video output. Other implementations may include one or moreencryption keys or other encryption information in the enhancement layercomponent(s) 121.

In FIG. 1, the base layer components 118 of four channels (A-D) arecombined and modulated 115 in the transmitting device 103 before beingsent in a first transport stream (e.g., QAM 1) 106. In otherembodiments, data components from more or fewer channels may be combinedfor a transport stream 106. Corresponding enhancement layer components121 of the four channels (A-D) are also combined and modulated 115 inthe transmitting device 103 before being sent in a second transportstream (e.g., QAM 2) 106. While QAM is illustrated for the transportstreams 106 of FIG. 1, other modulation schemes may also be utilized.The transport streams 106 are received and demodulated 124 by thereceiving device 109. The receiving device 109 may comprise suitablecircuitry that may include, e.g., processor(s), application specifichardware (ASIC), interfaces and/or other components as well as codeexecuted by hardware included in the circuitry (e.g., a processor) thatmay be configured to receive and process the data components from thetransmitting device 103 via a bitstream such as the transport stream106.

In the example of FIG. 1, the receiving device 109 (e.g., a set-top box(STB)) is configured demodulate 124 the received transport stream(s) andprovide the appropriate data components to decoders 127 and/or 130 fordecoding. For example, a legacy decoder 127 may only be able to decodecontent in the base layer component 118, while a newer enhanced decoder130 may be able to decode higher level or enhanced content in theenhancement layer components 121. If only the basic HD video of achannel is desired, the base layer component 118 can be decoded by alegacy decoder 127 and the enhanced layer component 121 may be ignored.However, if enhanced video is desired, then the base layer component 118and the enhanced layer component 121 are provided to a more advanced (orenhanced) decoder 130 for decoding. In some implementations, an enhancedlayer component 121 may be provided to a plurality of decoders for usein decoding. The demodulation 124 may also allow concurrent demodulationof multiple channels in a transport stream 103 and provision of thedemodulated data components to different decoders for decoding.

The separated components are recombined at the receiving end.Synchronization of the component data is needed to ensure properdecoding. For example, separating SVC components across different QAMtransport streams can introduce issues such as, e.g., synchronizationdeviations across the different transport streams, properly definedencryption, guide, and mosaic information or data to allow for use ofdifferent streams when they typically are in the same stream, etc. Thetransport streams are demodulated and the demodulated componentssynchronized. Synchronization of the data components may be accomplishedusing one or more synchronization tags including, e.g., timestampsand/or frame numbers. Formatting of the component data may also provideinformation that may be used for synchronization of the data componentsobtained from the separate streams.

Referring to FIG. 2, shown is another example of a system fortransmission of related data components across independent streams. Asin FIG. 1, the data components are sent to the receiving device 109through a plurality of transport streams 106. In the example of FIG. 2,a wideband tuner 224 demodulates components from multiple transportstreams and distributes the information from one or more streams to theappropriate decoder(s) 127 and/or 130, e.g., based upon itscapabilities. The wideband tuner 224 may be configured to combine thebase and enhanced components before distributing the content to theappropriate decoder. This distribution of channel content allowssimultaneous decoding by different decoders.

Referring next to FIG. 3, shown is an example of a transmitting device103 for transmission of related data components across independentstreams 106. The transmitting device 103 comprises suitable circuitrythat may include, e.g., encoder(s) 303, processor(s) 306, memory 309,application specific hardware (ASIC), interfaces, and/or othercomponents as well as code executed by hardware included in thecircuitry (e.g., a processor) that may be configured to process the databefore modulation and transmission of the data components via one ormore transport streams 106. The transmitting device 103 receives data312 such as audio, video, and/or other content (e.g., channel guides,closed captioning, encryption information, etc.) for transmission andseparates the received data 312 into related data components fortransmission through the one or more transport streams 106. Thetransmitting device 103 receives the transmission data 312 and separatesthe received data 312 into data components. For example, the encoder 303may be configured to encode the received data 312 into a SVC base layercomponent and one or more SVC enhancement layer components. Other datacomponents such as, e.g., guide information may be received by thetransmitting device 103 as separate data 312. In other embodiments,mosaic information may be separated into different data components andsent through different transport streams 106.

The transmitting device 103 may also be configured add a synchronizationtag to the separated data components that may be used forsynchronization of related components that are sent via differentstreams 106. For example, the synchronization tag may be placed in apredefined location in the header information of the data components.The synchronization tag may include a time stamp that may be used forsynchronization of the separated data components. For example, theprogram clock reference (PCR) for each transport stream 106 may be usedfor synchronization. The PCR for the different streams 106 may besynchronized by the transmitting device 103 and a time stampcorresponding to the synchronized PCRs may be added to each of theseparated components. In other implementations, the clocks may not besynchronized. For example, the PCR associated with the base layercomponent may be used as the master clock and offset corrections may bedetermined by the transmitting device 103 for the PCRs associated withthe other streams 106. The offset correction value may be included inthe synchronization tag of the data component corresponding to thetransport stream 106. The differences in the PCRs may then becompensated using the offset correction values when the transmitted datacomponents are received in the receiving device 109.

In some embodiments, the synchronization tag includes a frame identifierin the separated data components to indicate the relationship betweenthe different components. In some implementations, the frame identifierscomprise a corresponding frame number and/or a channel or programidentifier. In some cases, the channel or program identifier may bestored in a program association table or a program mapping table in thetransmitting device 103 and the receiving device 109. Where a datacomponent is related to a plurality of other components (e.g., guideinformation that may be related to multiple channels or encryption keysthat may be used to decrypt the base layer component and thecorresponding enhancement layer components), the frame identifier of thecommon data component (e.g., guide or encryption information) mayinclude an identification code that may be used to determine itsassociation with each of the other data components. The identificationcode may be included in the other data components or may includeinformation that may be used to determine the other data components. Forexample, the identification code may indicate which of the othertransport streams 106 include the related data components. When thesynchronizing tag does not include a time stamp or the time stamps maynot be relied upon, then the information of the frame identifier may beused to synchronize the related data components.

The separated data components may then be sent to a plurality ofmultiplexers 315, which are configured to merge the data components formodulation 115 and transmission to the receiving device 109 viadifferent transport streams 106. The transmitting device 103 maycomprise suitable circuitry and/or code executed by hardware included inthe circuitry (e.g., a processor) configured to merge and modulate thedata components for transmission. The modulated data 318 is thentransmitted to the receiving device 109 in the corresponding transportstream 106. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 1, a plurality of baselayer components 118 are merged by a first multiplexer 315 formodulation 115 and transmission via a first transport stream (QAM 1) 106and a plurality of enhanced layer components 121 are merged by a secondmultiplexer 315 for modulation 115 and transmission via a secondtransport stream (QAM 2) 106. While the example of FIG. 1 shows the baseand enhanced layer components 118 and 121 being sent through separatestreams 106, in other implementations a combination of base and enhancedlayer components 118 and 121 may be merged by a multiplexer 314 formodulation 115 and transmission via a transport stream 106.

The modulation 115 of the transmitting device 103 may also include oneor more buffer(s) to correct for slight differences between clock speedsof the modulation 115. In some implementations, the buffer(s) may be atthe modulation output. In the ideal case, all of the modulation 115 isperformed at the same clock speed so there is no long term drift. Inreality, slight differences exist between the modulation speeds (e.g.,modulation 115 associated with one transport stream 106 is running at 27MHz and modulation 115 associated with another transport stream 106 isrunning at 27+Δ MHz) so that over time a long term drift across thetransport streams 106 can occur. This may compromise the ability of thereceiving device 109 to resynchronize the related data components fordecoding using the synchronization tags. Over time, the long term driftacross the transport streams 106 results in a delay between the relateddata components that, no matter how large the buffers are at thereceiving device 109, can eventually prevent matching the related datacomponents for decoding. To compensate, the transmitting device 103 mayutilize the modulation output buffer(s) and monitor the data flow acrossthe transport streams 106. The transmitting device 103 may then adjustthe flow over the streams 106 to keep the transmission of the relateddata components close to each other. For example, the transmittingdevice 103 may be configured to correct for the drift by adjusting themodulation rate by reducing (or increasing) the clock speed if more (orless) data is being modulated for transmission on the correspondingtransport stream 106 compared to the other streams 106. For instance,the transmitting device 103 can monitor the condition of the modulationbuffer(s) by, e.g., monitoring the buffer levels or the rate at whichdata is removed from the buffer(s) and adjusting the modulation rateaccordingly.

Referring to FIG. 4, shown is an example of a receiving device 109 ofFIG. 1 for transmission of related data components across independentstreams 106. The receiving device 109 comprises suitable circuitry thatmay include, e.g., decoder(s) 127 and 130, processor(s), memory,application specific hardware (ASIC), interfaces, and/or othercomponents as well as code executed by hardware included in thecircuitry (e.g., a processor) that may be configured to process the datacomponents for decoding. The receiving device 109 receives anddemodulates 124 each of the plurality of transport streams 106 includingthe data components. In the example of FIG. 4, each transport stream 106is separately demodulated 124 before sending to a demultiplexer 403 toseparate the different data components in the transport stream 106. Thedemultiplexer 403 may comprise suitable circuitry and/or code executedby hardware included in the circuitry (e.g., a processor) configured toseparate the data components for decoding by the appropriated decoder127 and/or 130.

The receiving device 109 is configured to identify related datacomponents based at least in part upon the synchronization tag includedin the data component. The synchronization tag may be obtained from thedata components and used for the identification of related datacomponents. For example, the program clock reference (PCR) for thedifferent streams 106 may be synchronized by the transmitting device 103and a time stamp corresponding to the synchronized PCRs may be includedin each of the related data components. By comparing the time stamps ofdata components from different demultiplexers 403, the receiving device109 may identify related data components with the same time stamp. Inother implementations, the clocks for each transport steam 106 may notbe synchronized. In that case, the transmitting device 103 may use theclock for one transport stream 106 as the master and provide offsetcorrections for the other clocks. For example, the PCR associated withthe base layer component may be used as the master clock and offsetcorrections for the PCRs associated with the other streams 106 may beincluded in the corresponding data components. The receiving device 109may use the offset correction value included in the synchronization tagof the data component and the PCR of the corresponding transport stream106 to identify data components that are related.

In some embodiments, the synchronization tag includes a frame identifierin the data components to indicate the relationship between thecomponents. The frame identifiers may comprise a corresponding framenumber, a channel or program identifier, and/or other relationshipinformation. The receiving device 109 may use the channel or programidentifier to identify related data components. Where a data componentis related to a plurality of other data components in different channelsor to multiple data components in the same channel (e.g., guideinformation that may be related to multiple channels or encryption keysthat may be used to decrypt the base layer component and thecorresponding enhancement layer components), the frame identifier of thecommon data component (e.g., guide or encryption information) mayinclude an identification code that may be used to determine itsassociation with each of the other data components. The identificationcode may be included in the other data components or may includeinformation that may be used to determine the other data components. Forexample, the identification code may indicate which of the othertransport streams 106 include the related data components. In somecases, the receiving device 109 may include a program association tableor a program mapping table that may be accessed by the receiving device109 for identification of related data components. When thesynchronizing tag does not include a time stamp or the time stamps maynot be relied upon, then receiving device 109 may use information fromthe frame identifier to synchronize the related data components. Forexample, the frame identifier may include information such as, e.g., thenumber of related data components and/or an indication of therelationship between the related data components (e.g., base layer,enhancement layer, encryption, guide, or mosaic component). Therelationship information may also be used to determine which decoder(s)127 and/or 130 may receive the data component for decoding.

When the receiving device 109 identifies a data component, thedemultiplexers 403 may route the related data components to theappropriate decoder. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a base layercomponent may be sent to a legacy decoder 127 to produce, e.g., standardor HD video. An enhanced layer component can include additionalinformation that, when combined with information in the base layercomponent, may be used by more advanced (or enhanced) decoders toproduce enhanced video with a higher resolution, a higher rate, etc. Asshown in FIG. 4, the base layer component and one or more enhanced layercomponents can be routed to an enhanced decoder 130 for decoding. Forexample, the decoder 130 may be configured to decode a SVC base layercomponent and one or more SVC enhancement layer components to generatevideo with higher temporal, spatial, and/or quality resolutions than canbe produced from the base layer alone. While the example of FIG. 4depicts two demultiplexers 403 and two decoders 127 and 130, additionaldemultiplexers 403 and decoders 127 and/or 130 may be included.

Legacy decoders 127 may also be configured to receive and processrelated data components. For instance, a related data componentincluding encryption or guide information may be routed to a legacydecoder 127 for use with the base layer component. The legacy andenhanced (or advanced) decoders 127 and 130 may comprise suitablecircuitry and/or code executed by hardware included in the circuitry(e.g., a processor) configured to decode the data components and providethe decoded data 406 for rendering or further processing. Thedemultiplexers 403 and/or decoders 127 and 130 may also include a bufferto store related data components to allow for variations in routingtimes between the data components. For example, the receiving device 109may configured to control the routing of related data components fromthe demultiplexers 403 to coordinate the arrival of the related datacomponents at the decoder 127 or 130. If a delay occurs between relateddata components reaching the appropriate decoder, the buffer may beutilized to adjust for the delay.

Referring next to FIG. 5, shown is an example of a receiving device 109of FIG. 2 for transmission of related data components across independentstreams 106. In the example of FIG. 5, the receiving device 109 includesa wideband tuner 224 and legacy and enhanced decoders 127 and 130. Thewideband tuner 224 may comprise suitable circuitry that may include,e.g., processor(s) 403, memory 406, application specific hardware(ASIC), interfaces and/or other components as well as code executed byhardware included in the circuitry (e.g., a processor) that may beconfigured to receive, process, and distribute the data componentsreceived via the multiple transport streams 106. The wideband tuner 224receives and demodulates 409 the plurality of transport streams 106including the data components and separates the data components by,e.g., demultiplexing 412. The receiving device 109 is configured toidentify related data components based at least in part upon thesynchronization tag included in the data component as previouslydescribed. In some embodiments, identification of the related datacomponents is carried out by the wideband tuner 224. The wideband tuner224 distributes the related data components to the appropriatedecoder(s) 127 and/or 130, e.g., based upon its capabilities. Relatedcomponents may be combined by the wideband tuner 224 before distributingthe content to the appropriate decoder. In some implementations, relateddata components from different channels may be simultaneously providedto different decoders for decoding.

Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a flowchart illustrating an example oftransmission of related data components across independent streams in atransmitting device 103. Initially, data is received by the transmittingdevice 103 for transmission in block 603. The transmission data mayinclude audio, video, and/or other content such as, e.g., channelguides, closed captioning, encryption information, etc. In block 606,the transmission data is separated into related data components fortransmission to a receiving device 109 via different streams 106 (FIGS.1 and 2). For example, HD video content received by the transmissiondevice 103 may be separated into a base layer component and one or moreenhanced layer components during encoding for transmission over multipletransport streams 106. In other implementations, related data componentsmay include a video content, audio content, and guide information.Encryption information corresponding to the content of the related datacomponents may also be included as another related data component. Insome implementations, mosaic information may be sent over a plurality oftransport streams 106. For example, the video content may be dividedinto smaller video portions that may be transmitted via differenttransport streams 106. The smaller video portions may be encoded inparallel and sent to the receiving device 109 as related datacomponents.

In block 609, a synchronization tag is included in each of the relateddata components by the transmitting device 103. The synchronization tagmay include, e.g., a time stamp, an offset correction value, a frameidentifier, and/or other information that may be used forsynchronization of the related data components by the receiving device109. The related data components are then transmitted in differentstreams in block 612. The related data components may be merged withother unrelated and/or related data components (e.g., by multiplexing)and modulated for transmission to the receiving device 109. A quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM) or other appropriate modulation of the mergeddata components may be used.

Referring next to FIG. 7, shown is a flowchart illustrating an exampleof transmission of related data components across independent streams ina receiving device 109. Initially, multiple transport streams 106including data components are received by the receiving device 109 inblock 703. The received transport streams 106 may be demodulated and theseparated into the data components by demultiplexing. In someembodiments, the demodulation and demultiplexing may be performed by amultiband tuner 224 of the receiving device 109. In block 706, the datacomponents are identified by the receiving device 109. Related datacomponents may be identified based at least in part upon thesynchronization tag included in each of the related data components. Therelated components from different transport streams 106 are then routed(block 709) to the appropriate decoder for decoding in block 712.

The routing 709 and decoding 712 may be based at least in part upon thesynchronization tag. Information such as, e.g., a time stamp, an offsetcorrection value, a frame identifier, and/or other information that maybe used for synchronization of the related data components by thereceiving device 109. For example, mosaic information sent over aplurality of transport streams 106 may be decoded and recombined toreform a video based at least in part upon the synchronization tag. Thesmaller video portions may be decoded in parallel and reformed toprovide the video data for rendering on a display device. In some cases,encryption information included in a related data component may be usedto process the related data component. In addition, the routing may bebased upon the capabilities of the decoder. For example, SVC base layerand enhanced layer components may be routed to an enhanced (or advanced)decoder 130 (FIGS. 1 and 2) that may be capable of decoding the videocontent at higher resolutions. Legacy decoders 127 (FIGS. 1 and 2) thatare not capable of utilizing the enhanced layer information may onlyreceive the base layer component. Other related data componentsincluding, e.g., channel guide information, closed captioning,encryption information, etc. may also be routed to a legacy decoder 127and/or an enhanced decoder 130 if they are capable of decoding andproviding the content for rendering or processing.

The flow charts of FIGS. 6 and 7 show the functionality and operation ofa transmitting device 103 and receiving device 109. If embodied insoftware, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of codethat comprises program instructions to implement the specified logicalfunction(s). The program instructions may be embodied in the form ofsource code that comprises human-readable statements written in aprogramming language or machine code that comprises numericalinstructions recognizable by a suitable execution system such as aprocessor in a transmitting device 103 or receiving device 109. Themachine code may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied inhardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number ofinterconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flow charts of FIGS. 6 and 7 show a specific order ofexecution, it is understood that the order of execution may differ fromthat which is depicted. For example, the order of execution of two ormore blocks may be scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two ormore blocks shown in succession in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be executedconcurrently or with partial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments,one or more of the blocks shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be skipped oromitted. In addition, any number of counters, state variables, warningsemaphores, or messages might be added to the logical flow describedherein, for purposes of enhanced utility, accounting, performancemeasurement, or providing troubleshooting aids, etc. It is understoodthat all such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure.

Also, any code or application described herein that comprises softwareor code can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readable mediumfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system suchas, for example, a processor a transmitting device 103 or receivingdevice 109. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example,statements including instructions and declarations that can be fetchedfrom the computer-readable medium and executed by the instructionexecution system. In the context of the present disclosure, a“computer-readable medium” can be any medium that can contain, store, ormaintain the logic or application described herein for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system. The computer-readablemedium can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example,magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of asuitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to,magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memorycards, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, thecomputer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including,for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Inaddition, the computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM),a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transmitting device, comprising: circuitryconfigured to: separate transmission data into related data components,each related data component associated with one of a plurality oftransport streams, each of the related data components related to afirst set of frame identifiers; merge the related data components withunrelated data components before transmitting in the associatedtransport stream, the unrelated data components related to a second setof frame identifiers different than the first set of frame identifiers;and transmit each related data component in the associated transportstream, each related data component including a synchronization tagassociated with synchronization of the related data components withinthe transmission data.
 2. The transmitting device of claim 1, thecircuitry further configured to include the synchronizing tag in therelated data component.
 3. The transmitting device of claim 1, whereinthe transmission data comprises video content.
 4. The transmittingdevice of claim 3, wherein the video content is separated into a baselayer component and at least one enhanced layer component, wherein thebase layer component and the at least one enhanced layer component aretransmitted in different transport streams.
 5. The transmitting deviceof claim 4, wherein a plurality of enhanced layer components of thevideo content are transmitted in the same transport stream.
 6. Thetransmitting device of claim 1, the circuitry further configured tomodulate the related data components at a modulation rate fortransmission in the associated transport stream, the circuitrycomprising a modulation buffer, wherein the modulation rate is adjustedbased at least in part upon a condition of the modulation buffer.
 7. Thetransmitting device of claim 1, wherein the synchronization tagcomprises a time stamp.
 8. The transmitting device of claim 1, whereinthe synchronization tag comprises a frame identifier.
 9. A receivingdevice, comprising: circuitry configured to: receive a plurality ofrelated data components transmitted in separate transport streams, eachrelated data component including a synchronization tag associated withsynchronization of the related data components received in the separatetransport streams, each of the related data components related to afirst set of frame identifiers, the transport streams further includinga plurality of unrelated data components merged with the related datacomponents within the transport streams, the unrelated data componentsrelated to a second set of frame identifiers different than the firstset of frame identifiers; and decode the plurality of related datacomponents based at least in part upon the synchronization tag.
 10. Thereceiving device of claim 9, the circuitry further configured toseparate related data components from unrelated data components in thesame transport stream based at least in part upon the synchronizationtags of the related data components.
 11. The receiving device of claim9, further comprising a wideband tuner configured to separate relateddata components from unrelated data components in each of a plurality ofseparate transport streams based at least in part upon thesynchronization tag of the related data components.
 12. The receivingdevice of claim 11, wherein the wideband tuner is configured to identifyrelated data components based at least in part upon information in thesynchronization tag.
 13. The receiving device of claim 9, wherein thesynchronization tag comprises a frame identifier.
 14. The receivingdevice of claim 9, wherein the synchronization tag comprises a timestamp.
 15. The receiving device of claim 9, wherein the plurality ofrelated data components comprise a base layer component transmitted in afirst transport stream and an enhanced layer component transmitted in asecond transport stream.
 16. The receiving device of claim 15, whereinthe base layer component and the enhanced layer component are scalablevideo coding (SVC) layer components.